


I can take it

by waywardrenegades



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-09
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-13 21:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/507754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waywardrenegades/pseuds/waywardrenegades
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He'd worked with Boyd on plenty of cases like this, he'd proved himself worthy of undercover detail, he had already mentally prepared himself to go under to try and nail Bergins and maybe take Landry down in the process, and now where was he? Sitting in a squad car with his rookie, staring at a dilapidated warehouse - while Diaz and Peck were getting prepped and ready to go under.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set during 1x13 'Takedown', if Sam and Andy had gotten trapped in the warehouse instead of Chris and Gail. Re-posted from fanfiction.net [posted on 08-21-11].

Andy McNally glanced sideways at her partner, chewing lightly on her bottom lip.

They'd been riding in silence for nearly two hours now, driving past the same abandoned warehouse for the second time.

Andy rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Sam Swarek's fingers tightened around the steering wheel, his grip turning his knuckles bright white. He didn't respond, instead keeping his dark eyes trained on the road ahead.

"Sam..." she tried again.

A muscle jumped in his jaw and his body position stiffened even further - practically a miracle considering how tense he'd already been.

Andy let out a breath and collapsed backwards against her seat in the squad car. It was clear that Sam wasn't going to give her any answers as to why they'd been re-assigned, so for now, she was going to let it go.

Sam struggled to take a breath and get oxygen to his brain.

He was seething, his blood still boiling from his confrontation with Detective Luke Callaghan, his conversation with Sergeant Best and the close proximity to McNally wasn't helping him calm down.

As pissed off as he was, he was also embarrassed. He couldn't believe he'd let his emotions take over like he had, fueling the fight he'd had with Callaghan.

Stupid perfect Golden boy.

He had clashed with Callaghan on cases hundreds of times before, but this time was different. There was an undertone of something else, something he wasn't quite saying.

And now, because, for a split second, he'd lost control, he was stuck on a rookie worthy surveillance detail.

This was supposed to be his case.

He'd worked with Boyd on plenty of cases like this, he'd proved himself worthy of undercover detail, he had already mentally prepared himself to go under to try and nail Bergins and maybe take Landry down in the process, and now where was he? Sitting in a squad car with his rookie, staring at a dilapidated warehouse - while Diaz and Peck were getting prepped and ready to go under.

Two officers who had just barely passed their rookie evaluations were going under for the bust of fifteen's history and he was stuck with mindless procedure. He could not believe he'd screwed this up.

Sam threw the car into park and barked gruffly to Andy, "Get out. We're doing a walk around."

Andy watched him carefully as he got out, slamming the car door so hard behind him that the entire car shook.

"O-kay," she breathed softly, getting out of the car after him.

She jogged quickly to catch up, falling into step beside him.

"Sam..." she said. "What the hell happened back there? One minute we're getting ready to be Edie and Gabe and the next we're getting back in the squad car to stare at the same empty warehouse that Gail and Dov have been staring at for over a week?"

"Boyd changed his mind," Sam said gruffly, his feet pounding the gravel leading up to the warehouse entrance.

"That's it?" she said incredulously. "He just... changed his mind?"

"Yeah," he said sharply, his tone clearly telling her to shut up about it and stop asking questions, but she wasn't backing down.

"What were you and Luke yelling about?" she asked hesitantly.

Sam's head snapped to her, his dark eyes flashing. He refused to answer and stepped up the pace of his stride, surging ahead of his partner.

She rolled her eyes and tried to keep up, struggling to match his long strides.

"I'll take upstairs, you take down. We'll meet back here in five," Sam ordered.

Andy nodded, "Okay."

They split up, and Andy could feel her heart rate increasing with each step she took away from Sam. As irritating as he was being, he was her security blanket, almost as though his presence was calming for her. She was never scared when she knew that he was backing her up, but now, with each passing second, she could feel the fear mounting.

This warehouse was empty, she reminded herself. There was nothing to worry about.

The words had no sooner run through her mind than a loud crash made her jump practically out of her skin. She whirled around, pulling her gun from her holster with one smooth motion, the sound of a body hitting the ground sending her heart into her throat.

She took off at a jog in the direction of the crash, her heart thumping against her rib cage so hard that she was sure it would burst through her chest.

"Sam," she called out softly, hoping he would magically appear in front of her with his dimpled grin, reassuring her that everything was fine.

Her voice rang out, echoing off the metal walls, the only noise in the eerily quiet warehouse.

"Sam!"


	2. Chapter 2

Sam glanced behind him to Andy's retreating figure and shook his head at the anxiety that suddenly gripped him. She was a good cop, he had trained her himself, she would be fine.

He turned to face forwards and walked slowly, glancing around, already on alert.

A loud crash directly behind him nearly gave him a heart attack as he whirled around, gun at the ready, just in time to see a man in a hooded sweatshirt dart out from behind the stack of wooden crates.

"Police!" Sam shouted. "Don't move!"

The man darted past him into a back storage room as Sam followed behind quickly.

"Hey! I said don't move!"

A sudden flash of dark fabric passed before Sam's eyes as he was sent flying through the air, careening into a stack of flats leaning against the nearby wall, the wind knocked out of him.

The man didn't even pause to glance behind him as he ran out of the storage room and into the open warehouse, right towards Andy.

"Stop!" she shouted, pointing her gun straight at him. "Stop moving!" she yelled, her voice rising into hysterics as she realized that she hadn't seen Sam yet.

The man didn't slow, running as fast as he could out of the building. Andy watched him run past helplessly, torn between running after the man and going to find her partner.

She bit her lip and shook her head, taking off in the direction that Sam had gone.

"Sam!" she yelled out.

"In here," he called back, his voice strangled.

She let out a shaky breath from between her teeth and ran into the storage room, kneeling beside Sam.

"No!" he shouted suddenly. "Don't let the door close!"

Andy looked at his face, her eyebrows knit together in confusion as the sound of a heavy metal door slamming shut jarred her out of her concern for Sam.

"Fuck!" he yelled, struggling to get to his feet despite a stabbing pain in his ribs from the fall to the ground.

He slammed his open palms against the door in frustration, trying his best to resist the urge to punch his fist into it, taking out some of his frustration on the day.

"Is it locked?" Andy asked, her voice small.

"No. It's open," Sam spat sarcastically. "Fuck!" he shouted again, slamming his palm against the metal one last time.

"We're stuck?" she said, incredulously.

Sam stared at her in disbelief and shook his head, exasperatedly.

This day could not get any worse.


	3. Chapter 3

"It's not going to open anytime soon, McNally. You might as well get comfortable," Sam said, leaning his head against the concrete wall, his arms folded over his chest.

Andy ran her hands along the frame of the door, looking for any way out of there, any hint at an escape route.

"McNally," Sam said again, rolling his eyes. "It's a metal door, approximately two feet thick with no doorknob. It is not going to open."

"Well I'm trying, sue me."

Sam closed his eyes, tilting his head up to the ceiling as Andy slammed her palms against the door.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" he asked, opening one eye to see her pacing back and forth, looking like a caged animal.

"I'm..." she paused, glancing down at him hesitantly before continuing. "A little claustrophobic."

"You're kidding right?"

Andy shook her head, reaching up to loosen the tie around her neck.

Sam rolled his eyes and looked at the brunette in front of him, "Just... take a deep breath. We're fine. They'll find us eventually, we just have to stick it out."

Andy nodded and pulled the tie over her head, unbuttoning the top two buttons of her uniform top.

"Sit down, take a breath, go to your happy place," Sam instructed sarcastically.

Andy glared at him before sliding down the opposite wall, her butt hitting the concrete floor as she avoided her former TO's gaze.

They were both silent for a few minutes before Sam sighed loudly, "This is just freaking super."

"I'm sorry, Sam."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Rookie mistake. Don't let the metal door close. Now you know."

Andy raked a hand through her bangs, "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Whatever," he replied. He knew he sounded like a petulant child, but he couldn't help it, she brought the tone out.

Andy took a ragged breath and undid yet another button, breathing in and out slowly from between pursed lips.

Sam looked at her, his dark eyes watching her carefully.

"This day... sucks," she said, inhaling deeply through her nostrils.

"Yeah," he scoffed, thinking back to the harsh words he'd exchanged with Callaghan earlier that day.

"Sam. What happened back at the Division?"

"Nothing," he said, running a strong hand through his messy brown hair.

"Right... nothing. You and Luke get into it in the middle of the precinct and suddenly Best is calling you into his office and we're off the undercover? That's not nothing."

"Callaghan was just… being Callaghan," Sam finished lamely, raking a hand through his messy hair, avoiding Andy's watchful gaze.

"Be vaguer, I dare you," Andy said, rolling her eyes at his non-explanation.

Sam barely heard her as his thoughts travelled back in time to earlier this morning and argument he'd had with Callaghan in the interview room.

 

 

_Sam glared across Sergeant Best's office at Callaghan, his blood boiling at just the sight of the detective. Lately, every time he saw him, all he could picture was his hands on her, and that visual alone was enough to make him sick to his stomach._

_"Okay," Frank said, looking between Sam and Luke. "Tell me where we're at."_

_Sam and Luke quickly filled Sergeant Best in on what they knew about Bergin and Angel and the Landry's._

_Frank nodded along with everything they said and then dismissed them with a wave of his hand._

_Sam walked out of the room, moving quickly to put as much space between him and Callaghan as he could, straight into the interview room where every case file having to do with Angel and Bergin was spread out on the table in front of him. He picked up the nearest one, just for something to do when he heard someone enter the room behind him behind him._

_"Why the hell would Lessing – who's no amateur – risk throwing the entire deal under the bus for his girlfriend?" Luke mused, incredulously as he picked up a picture of Lessing and another of Edie._

_Sam pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, and replied without looking up from the papers in his hands, unwilling to make eye contact with Callaghan._

_"People do really stupid things when it comes to the people they love," he said softly._

_Luke's blue eyes snapped to Sam, his eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline._

_Sam could feel Luke's eyes burning holes in the side of his head but refused to give him the satisfaction of looking up._

_"This undercover gig really shouldn't be that big of a deal," Luke said finally. "Just keep it simple, nothing fancy. In and out."_

_Sam finally looked up at Luke and shook his head in disbelief, "How 'bout you do your job and you let me do mine?"_

_Luke raised his eyebrow, "Sure thing Sammy."_

_Sam nodded and returned his attention to the police form in front of him, his heart almost stopping in his chest at the sight of Andy's handwriting._

_Everything about this woman flustered him. Him, Sam Swarek, was flustered by a woman – a rookie, no less. Her voice, her smile, her laugh – and apparently, her handwriting._

_"Anyway," Luke's voice broke through Sam's fog and his head snapped up to the detective. "Angel's just there to back Landry up, he's not a real threat."_

_"Gee thanks, Detective," Sam said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I think I can handle myself."_

_"Easy tiger," Luke said, holding up his hands. "I'm just trying to help."_

_"Well, don't," Sam said, glaring at Luke, his dark eyes flashing angrily, his volume rising._

_Luke continued as if Sam hadn't spoken, "Angel's backing Landry up so he won't hesitate in shooting you, but he's a small fry. Just protecting his boss…"_

_"Yeah, well that's generally what you do for people you care about. Back them up," Sam practically yelled, his anger taking over._

_Luke eyed him suspiciously, "We still talking about the case, Sammy?"_

_Sam glared at him, "What the hell else would we be talking about?" he shouted._

 

 

"Don't worry, McNally. I'm sure your precious boyfriend can handle a little argument. He'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about Luke..."

"Right, of course not," Sam said, cutting her off sharply. "'Cause he's perfect. He doesn't need your concern."

"Y'know, if you would shut up for five seconds, maybe I could actually finish my sentence," she shot back, glaring at him. "I'm not worried about Luke, I was worried about you."

Sam's guarded expression softened slightly at her words, momentarily making him forget how pissed off he was.

"You don't need to be, I'm fine."

"You're not fine," she said quietly.

"Oh really? And what makes you say that?" Sam asked sarcastically, pressing his back into the wall.

"Maybe because you flipped out and got kicked off undercover? You, Sam. Guns and Gangs loves you, you would have caught Anton Hill if I hadn't taken you down..." she trailed off, watching as Sam smirked. "And yet, today... you get kicked to rookie surveillance detail."

"It's not that big of a deal, McNally."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her own arms over her chest, looking away from her partner's dark eyes.

"Fine... you don't want to tell me, don't tell me."

"Fine," Sam replied, smirking at her, his dimples pronounced.

"Fine."

"Just tell me what happened!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up.

"I thought you were going to leave it alone," Sam observed.

"You know me, when do I ever leave things alone?"

"Yeah," he said softly. "I do know you."

Andy looked up at him sharply, the change in his husky voice sending a chill down her spine.

"So..." he asked, clearing his throat awkwardly. "How are things with Golden Boy?"

"Excuse me?"

"You and Callaghan. How're things going?"

"Why do you care?"

"Just making conversation, McNally. Who knows how long we're going to be stuck here? We gotta pass the time somehow."

"Yeah, well can we leave Luke out of it?"

"Testy, testy, testy," Sam commented, watching her carefully.

"Luke and I are fine," she replied, hoping to prove that she wasn't as high strung as she'd just come across. "How's Monica?"

Sam hesitated, "I hear she's fine."

Andy raised her eyebrows at him as he explained, "We're not together anymore."

"Huh," she said. "She seemed nice."

Sam looked at her, his face masked in yet another of his signature, unreadable expression. His eyes traveled over the contours of her face until it reached her perfect lips. He felt a pang in his stomach as he recalled the scene he'd witnessed earlier that morning – something he'd much rather forget.

 

 

_Sam walked into the precinct, two coffees in his hand. He had woken up in a great mood and had even detoured fifteen minutes out of his way to go to the coffee shop that Andy loved to get her favourite drink – caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso and extra whip cream with caramel drizzle – way too much sugar for him, but she liked it._

_He took a sip of his own coffee before walking straight to the door of the parade room, stopping to glance in the window and seeing Andy, her back turned, her fingers expertly working her brunette hair into a French braid._

_His face broke into a smile, despite his best efforts to hide it and he moved forward to give her the sweet drink. He stopped in his tracks as Luke blasted through the door and stopped in front of Andy. His lips moved, saying something that Sam couldn't hear but he could see Andy's shoulders shaking with laughter as she tied her elastic around the end of her braid and let her arms drop to her side._

_Luke stepped forwards and took her hand in his own, intertwining their fingers and looking at her with such sickening love in his eyes that Sam wanted to throw up._

_Sam watched, his stomach flipping as Luke lowered his blonde head to Andy's, his eyes closing, their lips meeting gently. Luke's hand snaked around her neck, deepening the kiss._

_Sam's hand squeezed the paper cup involuntarily, hot liquid spilling over the edges of the cup, dripping up and over his knuckles. He spun around on his heel and threw the coffee cup into the nearest trash can with so much force that coffee splashed up onto the walls, looking vaguely like blood spatter._

_One thing Sam knew for sure, his good mood was gone._

 

 

"Sam..." she said. "We are going to get out of here, right?" Andy's voice jarred him out of his reverie as he looked at the concern in her eyes, the worry etched on her pretty face.

"'Course."

She nodded and leaned forward to peel off her uniform shirt, leaving herself sitting in her black tshirt, fanning herself with her hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his anger melting away with each passing second he was stuck in the small room with his rookie.

"I'm just... feeling a bit hot," she said, taking a deep, shaky breath.

"We're going to get out of here McNally, just a little while longer."

"Shouldn't we be trying to find a way out?" she asked, standing to begin to pace yet again.

"You already tried, remember?"

"I need to get out of here," she said, moving from one side of the room and back again with long, smooth strides.

"You're freaking out, McNally. You know that right?"

Andy glared at him and pulled on the collar of her tshirt, trying to get it as far away from her neck as she could.

"Okay, fine," he said, sighing as he got to his feet.

"What're you doing?" she asked, watching him carefully.

"You're kidding, right?" he said, throwing a glare over his shoulder. "You just told me to find a way out here."

He stepped up on a wooden crate, climbing his way up to a ventilation fan and looked at it, tilting his head before running his hand along the side, trying to find a way to pull the metal cover off.

"I asked you if we should be finding a way out of here. I didn't tell you to go climbing things," she corrected, staring at him.

He smirked at her and wrapped his fingers around the metal cover as he tried to pry it away from the wall. He yanked on it once, twice, three times before it finally came loose. He stumbled a little, the wooden crate wobbling with his shift in weight.

Andy stepped forward instinctively, putting her hands on his side to stable him. He looked down at her, a cocky smirk splayed on his handsome face as his dark eyes looked down at her hands.

"Try not to cop a feel, McNally."

She rolled her eyes and removed her hands, "Did you find a way out?"

Sam peered out through the bars of the fan as the creaking of a door opening and loud voices filled the space.

"What's that?" Andy asked, her eyes widening.

"It's Bergin," Sam said incredulously.

"This wasn't supposed to be the place," she said in disbelief. "It was just a satellite location."

Sam looked down at her, and they exchanged a heavy glance, before he turned his attention back to the warehouse floor.

Moments passed when suddenly, loud shouts and the sounds of objects crashing to the ground echoed off the walls.

"Police! Don't move!"

Sam glanced back down at Andy's relieved face and smiled, "Told you we were getting out of here McNally."

Andy exhaled a deep breath from between her teeth, a small smile breaking across her face.

Sam's smile widened as the sounds of mayhem breaking out traveled into the room from behind the wall.

They had only a few seconds of euphoria before shots rang out from behind the wall.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam dove off the wooden crate he was standing on and knocked Andy to the ground, his body pressing hers to the ground.

The second the shots had been fired, the only thought in Sam's mind was protecting Andy, his partner. With absolutely no consideration for himself and his own safety, he had simply launched himself onto her, using his own body as a shield. He wrapped his arm around her head, protecting her face, making sure he was lying flat on top of her, making sure he'd protected her from getting hurt.

"You okay, McNally?" he asked softly, trying not to speak too loudly to attract attention to where they were.

Andy struggled to get air to her brain, her lack of oxygen having less to do with being knocked to the ground and more to do with the close proximity to Sam Swarek.

She forced herself to nod as he rolled off her, more shouts and gun shots echoing off the metal walls, all sounds muffled through the heavy door blocking them from the main warehouse area.

Andy moved to stand up, but Sam reached his hand out, gripped her wrist and pulled her back to the ground.

"Stay low," he warned her.

She nodded and lay back down next to him, his strong fingers still clasped around her wrist.

She took a deep breath, watching as her chest rose and fell.

"Sam..." she said, her voice breaking with fear.

"We're okay, McNally," he said, trying to reassure her despite his own pounding heart. "We're going to be okay."

Andy closed her eyes, willing the shots to stop, the door to open, someone to come in and rescue them.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and turned her palm upwards, forcing Sam's grip to shift, their fingers intertwining, Andy clung to his hand for dear life, her fingernails digging into the back of it.

He rolled his head, glancing sideways at her in shock to see her closed eyes, her scrunched face. His gaze traveled down to their clasped hands and he squeezed hers, hoping to offer her just a little bit of reassurance that they were going to be fine.

Then suddenly, an eerie quiet fell over the warehouse and Sam eased up onto his elbows, his grip on Andy's hand slackening.

She peeped open her eyes, watching through her eyelashes as he stood, walking towards the wooden crates and stepping on it again, looking out towards the warehouse.

He could see Oliver walking past, his gun raised, looking around to clear the building.

"Thank god," Sam breathed, leaping off the crate to the door. He slammed his open palms against the metal and bellowed as loud as he could, "OLIVER! Oliver! Get us out of here!"

Andy stood and moved next to Sam, banging her own palms against the cool metal.

"Officer Shaw!" she screamed. "Help!"

The metal door swung open to reveal Oliver Shaw, standing in front of them, gun raised. His eyes widened as he saw his best friend and his rookie. They both looked disheveled and uneasy. Andy's uniform shirt had been discarded in a pile on the ground, Sam's tie loosened, both of their faces flushed.

"What the hell happened to you guys?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Thanks for getting us out of there, Ollie," Sam said, looking over at his best friend. Oliver nodded, but there was a small smirk on his middle-aged face.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Spit it out, Shaw."

"It's just… you sure you wanted to get out of there?" Oliver's smirk turned into a full-fledged grin at his words and searched Sam's face carefully for any sort of reaction. All he got was an eye roll.

"We've been over this. She's just my rookie."

"You guys looked awfully… cozy in there," Officer Shaw said, as though he hadn't heard him.

"Nothing happened, Oliver."

"Uh, huh. Sure."

Sam rolled his eyes again and opened his mouth to protest when Andy came into view, walking over towards where the two senior officers were standing next to the squad car. She'd put her uniform top back on buttoning it up to her neck – much less distracting, Sam thought. It was hard enough just being around her, staring at the slope of her neck down to her collarbone made it a hundred times worse.

Oliver watched his best friend stare at McNally as she walked up, oblivious to Sam's watchful eyes. His eyes were glassy, as if he was so far into his own head that he didn't even realize he was staring.

"Like hell nothing happened," Oliver muttered, smirking just as Andy stopped beside them, smiling as she leaned against the squad car.

Oliver immediately switched topics and began to fill them in on what had happened while they were on surveillance.

"When Chris and Gail got there, it was obvious that something had gone wrong. Angel was there, with some guy named Ricky, but Bergin was nowhere in sight, neither was the heroin. When Angel finished counting the money, he decided that he needed to move them to go get the product," Oliver explained. Sam crossed his arms across his chest, leaning backwards against the squad car next to Andy.

"They put Chris and Gail in a truck and took them away. We followed them, but we had no idea where they were headed - until we noticed that you two hadn't checked in in over an hour. We figured that something must be wrong and sent teams out to this warehouse. We busted Landry, Bergin and Angel and everyone's alive. All in all, it's been a good night."

Sam rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his messy brown hair.

"You guys can't do anything without me, can you?" he asked, his handsome features twisted into a wry smile.

"Right, says the guy who got locked in a storage room in an abandoned warehouse."

Andy smirked, her heart rate finally having returned to normal, as Sam rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Shaw," Sam said reaching out to punch his best friend in the arm. "Go home to Zoe and the girls, we'll finish here."

Oliver smiled, "Thanks brother. See you tomorrow," he nodded at Andy before shooting Sam a knowing look and walking away, leaving them alone in the crisp night air.

Andy turned her face up towards the sky, her eyes trained on the sparkling stars above and smiled. Being out in the open air made her feel a thousand times better. This is what she loved, being outside in a wide expanse, not crammed in a tiny room.

Although, if she was being honest with herself, being stuck in a cramped room with Sam Swarek really hadn't been that unfortunate.

"You okay, McNally?"

"Never better," she said, a smirk on her lips.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, so low that she was sure she'd misheard him.

"What?" she said incredulously, turning to look at him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, his voice stronger.

"For what?"

"For getting us into that mess..."

"You didn't get me into anything, Sam. I'm the one who let the door close."

"Yeah, well... but if I hadn't been an ass to Callaghan, we wouldn't have even been in there in the first place."

Andy smiled, "True."

Sam laughed, the first real laugh she'd heard from him all day, and said, "About before... I was pissed at myself, at Callaghan, at Best - and I took it out on you."

"I can take it."

"I know you can," he said with a smile.

Andy returned his smile and propelled her weight off the squad car, "I should get back to the station to change and go home."

"Okay. You need a ride?"

"No, I'm okay. I think we've been stuck in enough small spaces together for one day," Andy said with a smirk, running her hand sub-consciously over the inside of her wrist, where minutes before, Sam's hand had been.

Sam smiled back at her, "I can take it," he said, echoing her words.

"I know you can."


End file.
